Baeza wanted to be sure Calderon was telling the truth so she had her tested for drugs the day she was removed from campus. The results of a drug urine test came up negative for marijuana or other drugs.

"I'm never going to say, `No, not my child,' because that would be cheating myself and my daughter," Baeza said. "So I had her drug tested. With the negative results, it was obvious Amanda was not under the influence of drugs."

The school principal at the time, Devery Parker, who has since resigned, said he could not accept the test because it was not as conclusive as a blood test and it was conducted 24 hours before any drugs could have entered Calderon's blood stream.

Calderon's mother challenged the suspension, citing the negative drug test results. The district called a hearing Nov. 14 and brought in an an independent mediator to hear arguments from both sides.

The day before the hearing, on Nov. 13, Baeza had her daughter undergo a second drug test sampling her blood.

The results were not available in time for the hearing, and the district's mediator, Gene Franklin, said he would not rule on Calderon until they were.

Franklin did not issue a judgement during the Nov. 14 session, which lasted approximately one hour and 15 minutes.

However, when Baeza was driving back to work shortly after the hearing, Franklin called her on her cell phone to say he decided to uphold the decision to send Calderon to the alternative school for the remainder of the school year.

Franklin would not comment on his decision to rule before submission of the second drug test. Collier said there was adequate evidence at the time to remove Calderon from the campus.

Calderon submitted the second drug test to officials on Nov. 19, but she did not get a response from the district until Nov. 21.

Upon receiving results of the second test, Franklin reversed his decision and allowed Calderon to return to Humble Middle School.

Collier would not say why Franklin reversed his decision. She did say he was not obligated to allow the girl to return after receiving the second test.

"Amanda was very fortunate to have her case overturned because it doesn't happen that often," Collier said.

Calderon said the smell of marijuana smoke may have been on her jacket after she had left it at someone else's house the night before.

As far as her acting strangely, Calderon said she was upset because a family member had died the week before and she was nervous when administrators "accused" her of smoking pot and being high.

"She's just 12 years old, and she was intimidated by authority figures," Baeza said.

Baeza said it was only right for Franklin to change his ruling because he originally said he would not rule until results were in from the second test.

She thinks the district's drug policy is unfair because administrators do not have to find drugs or drug paraphernalia on students before accusing them of drug use and, ultimately, removing them from school.

A student can be removed if he or she "sells, gives or delivers to another person or possesses or uses or is under the influence of" controlled substances, such as marijuana and alcohol, according to the district's handbook.

"I feel the handbook Humble ISD has is completely unfair and leaves students wide open to teachers simply on opinions, versus facts," Baeza said. "Just because one teacher simply suspects, in her opinion, a student of being under the influence doesn't mean that's the case."

Collier said the drug policy in the Student/Parent Handbook's Student Code of Conduct -- adopted from the Texas Education Code -- has been around for 15 to 20 years. In the case of students appearing intoxicated or high, they are ordered removed from campus only after failing a number of motor-skills tests.

Baeza said she did not want to place her daughter in the alternative school because she thought she was innocent and she feared her daughter might be influenced by other kids.

Baeza said she tried to enroll her daughter in private schools, but they would not accept her because of the drug suspension. During the nine days she was not in school, Calderon stayed at a family member's house.

Calderon said she was just happy to return to school and stop rumors that she had moved to a different state.

"I think they treated me pretty fair because they let me back into school," she said.